Under the Black Moon
by Clementine Mack
Summary: No one left the war entirely unscathed but for Luna Lovegood, she was forced to carry a terrible secret. (dark!Luna)
1. Chapter 1

**Under the Black Moon  
Chapter 1  
**

* * *

"It will be fine. We are going to be in there with you every moment you are on the stand," Neville said with a gentle smile. The small huddle of friends gathered close to Luna, enveloping her with their support as they offered reassuring nods. Neville, Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron had all assembled that Tuesday morning to stand by their friend as she gave her court testimony. They had all participated in some variation or another since the end of the War. Kingsley Shacklebolt, their older comrade in arms but also Minister of Magic, had told them all that it wasn't a necessity. That written affidavit would suffice. But all of them, including Luna, had obliged the ceremonious proceedings before the Wizengamot. In part to get the truth heard by as many as they could in their own voices. But also, deep down, each and every one of them hoped for a little bit of closer on the terrors they had born witness to.

"Just tell them as much as you can."

"I will tell them how I died then." She said plainly, her wide blue eyes catching the uncomfortable shadow that crossed their faces. Ginny and Harry looked away awkwardly and Ron muttered something about her being mental to which Hermione elbowed him into silence. Neville's expression was one of concern. Luna had spoken little of her time as Bellatrix Lestrange's prisoner but it was clear that she might never fully be the same. He was only thankful she had survived her ordeal better off than his own parents whom had been victims of the dark witch's torture.

"You don't have to do this if you aren't ready, Luna," Neville said, timidly reaching out to hold her. Despite their budding romance since the war the Gryffindor still had all the boyish awkwardness of new love.

"It was only a joke. Not a good one though." she said with neutral airy tone. Luna had never been good at jokes or reading social cues but she had practiced through the years in what to do when she made others uncomfortable. Divert, evade, redirect the conversation. Let the other person talk about themselves; people, she found for instance, really enjoyed talking about themselves. What they liked, what they thought about this or that. If she asked just the right question Luna discovered she could be completely reprieved from ever having to say a single word more than "is that so?" or the ever popular "tell me more".

Neville was the only one that this parlor trick did not seem to have the desired effect. He was comparably more astute than others his age and furthermore always able to discern when she was avoiding participation in the conversation, but what she liked even more about him was he could appreciate comfortable silence as well.

"You can do this," Neville reaffirmed. Each of Luna's friends took turns giving her one last hug before the court attendant called her name. After that Luna only heard the steady click of her rainbow colored mary-janes on the courtroom floor and the murmur of voices coming from the lofted benches of where the Wizengamot members sat.

After a brief introduction the room was called to silence where the residing wizengamot leader addressed Luna and beckoned for her to recount her experiences to the gathered community. With her hands firmly at her side, she practiced the words she had rehearsed both in the mirror and in front of Ginny and Neville. She told them everything and spared no details even as the aging witches and wizards of the wizengamot shifted in their seats in agitation or became pale with horror.

Yes, Luna thought to herself. She told them everything.

Save but the most important detail. There remained one odd fact that she had left out even when she spoke of the imprisonment to her friends.

Quite simply: she left out the part of how Luna had, in face, died.

It was a truth she carried with her like an albatross around her neck. She had come close once or twice to telling Neville but each time the words died on her lips and the secret festered a little more. For all that they shared: hopes and laughter, a humble loft in London and dreams for the future there was still things Luna kept from him. Like how she could not remember the last night she slept or how sometimes she would black out, losing hours of her day. She tried to tell herself it was fatigue, that the missing spots in her day were simply times her mind abruptly turned off in self-preservation. But all the same it was unnerving and the lines of reality felt increasingly blurred. She had been taunted all her life as Loony Lovegood, did this mean she truly had lost her mind?

Later that night when they crawled in between the sheets of the bed they shared she pretended to fall asleep, only opening her eyes when the steady snoring confirmed Neville had dozed off. Sometimes Neville would toss and turn, crying out in his dreams. She had her albatross but so did he.

They all did. With countless scars and the invisible nightmares that perched on their shoulders, the title of war hero seemed of little value for the price of the reverberating anguish that echoed in their bones. Tonight, Luna was thankful that the only restless one was herself as Neville's eyelids fluttered with the slumbering peace afforded on too seldom occasion. She sat upright, draping her frail arms over her knees as she tucked them up to her chest.

"Are you there?" She whispered.

There came no reply but she did not need one. It's presence was there like a dark shiver down her spine. Luna's breath hitched as her skin prickled from an unnatural chill in the air. Was it real? She wondered. How much of her experiences only existed in her mind?

The shadows on the wall flickered, reminding her of the night it all began. She closed her eyes knowing she was going to relive it all over. _Over and over…_

Bellatrix's shrill laughter boomed in the dimly lit study. Luna sat perfectly still in the plush folds of the armchair, her body was paralyzed from the dark witch's spells. She could not move nor speak under the strain of her magical binds. Hours must have passed in that room but Luna had already checked out mentally. She was somewhere else, walking through a meadow and following a herd of thestrals. If she tried hard enough Luna could imagine the warmth of the sun on her face and the glisten of the paper skinned creatures grazing nearby.

"Oh no no," Bellatrix cooed. She slapped Luna hard across the face several times until the young woman was clearly back in the present. Mutely Luna levelled her gaze until dual sapphires matched the crazed black ones of Bellatrix. "You need to stay with me for tonight's little show. I have something special planned just between us _girls_."

The dark witch spun on her heel, her black dress twirling like she was in some sort of debutante's ball. She skipped gleefully to a nearby table and retrieved a dagger from the confines of a velvet laced box. The weapon's hilt was encrusted with a delicate encrustment of obsidian stones that swallowed the light as Bellatrix held it up against the fireplace's flames.

"My Lord doesn't know that _I_ know his secret," Bellatrix purred as she stepped closer to where Luna sat immobilized. Inches from Luna's face she bent forward until their cheeks pressed together, Bellatrix's voice was but a faint whisper in her ear. "About his horcruxes."

She punctuated the word horcruxes with a distinct hiss that made Luna's stomach lurch with terror even if she did not fully understand what it meant. Bellatrix lovingly stroked her hand through Luna's long blonde hair. The young woman had distant memories of her mother once doing the same and they were now tainted by feeling of Bellatrix's hand across her head. The unstable witch continued speaking, but this time it was mostly to herself. "My Lord doesn't realize that he needs me to protect him...what is immortality without me by his side?"

"But that's where you come in, my sweet little moon," Bellatrix said with a manic smile. "Because I have a way to make sure I am always there with him."

If Bellatrix had not stolen Luna's voice she might have cried out when the woman lifted her wand and with a swoop Luna was tossed to the hardwood floor like a petulant child's ragdoll. "Your precious pure blood will be a necessary sacrifice, I'm afraid. But don't you be scared it will all be over soon."

No matter how futile, Luna fought against the invisible weight that kept her from even defending herself. Her heart rate quickened as Bellatrix muttered the first words of her incantation. The air around them cracked and sizzled with the sickening dark energy that was being summoned. She could hear laughter, a grotesque noise that did not sound even remotely human. Luna only vaguely realized that it had not been coming from Bellatrix but somewhere else altogether.

Her whole world was spinning like a carousel gone awry so that Luna could not focus on the dagger in Bellatrix's hands as she raised it above her head. There was only a brief moment at the precipice of the spell's completion that it registered for Luna what was going to happen.

There was searing pain as the blade pierced her chest. She choked on her silent screams as the agony licked her body. Smoke combusted from her wound and filled the space in a hideous cloud of dark magic. Luna thought that when the time came she would welcome death. She pictured it like a warm blanket that would erase all the pains of her human body. _Perhaps I will see Mama_ , Luna told herself and the idea had comfort.

She had at first thought that Harry or some friend would rescue her. She had been so confident in this belief that Luna had not worried about enduring her stay under her torturous capture. It had been two weeks or so as captive of the Death Eaters before reality set in. By then she had already seen another prisoner killed by Bellatrix. After that she stopped preparing for a rescue as she started preparing for the end of her life instead. As it had been she had given up the hope she would ever see her father again. It pained her to know he would be alone in the world when she was gone.

But facing death now, what struck her about the moment was that as the blade drove deeper into her heart Luna was not prepared for the sensation of the air leave her body. It was like being thrown into a very deep lake with boulders on her feet. Her lunges were suddenly on fire as tears streamed down her face unbidden.

Deeper into the abyss she plunged until her mortal heart stopped beating altogether. _  
_It was with relief she relinquished her life into the cold outstretched hand of the grim reaper.

Or so Luna thought.

It wasn't the grim reaper, as she quickly realized. Nor did it turn out ot be that comforting black blanket she had imagined. It was a sinister energy that wretched its claws into her soul and devoured her senses.

In that darkness something else took hold of Luna, seizing the invitation Bellatrix had mistakenly offered with her dark invocation. As the heat of the spell dissipated Bellatrix realized it had not worked as she had hoped. Instead of immortality of her own she was left with the burning rage that it had not worked at all. She screeched, throwing the dagger against the wall where it remained.

Luna gasped and Bellatrix cast a confused look at the young woman's crumbled unconscious body. Luna's breath was shallow but still existent.

"Why aren't you dead?" Bellatrix said with an obvious pout. The crazed woman was far too absorbed with her evening's failed attempt to even notice that there was nothing but a silver line where her blade had stabbed Luna. The dark-haired witch summoned the resident werewolf, Fenrir Greyback and with a wave of her hand dismissed the creature to remove the evidence of her failure.

When Greyback brought Luna back to the Malfoy Manor's dungeon her porcelain skin was stained with soot. There was an uneasy look in the werewolf's face as he deliberately avoided the gaze of the witch in his arms. Putting the young woman down on a pallet of blankets that only vaguely resembled a bed, Greyback left quickly and without a single word. The other occupants of the shared cell hesitated to approach her at first, wondering whether it was best to let her be or offer comfort. Although at this point they were forced to acknowledge a singular truth: what comfort could any of them offer? They were all in hell together.

Garrick Ollivander pushed past the others, hobbling urgently to her side.

"Luna! LUNA!" Ollivander said as the old man tried to inspect the young woman for wounds. She did not respond.

After a few moments, Ollivander shook her but she merely stared ahead with unfocused eyes. Catatonic. There was a panic in his voice as the young witch went completely limp, her blue eyes open but unblinking. If not for the faint pulse and quiet inhale and exhale of breath he would have thought she was dead.

The aging wizard looked at the dungeon door screaming in a raspy voice at who ever stood beyond it: "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"

His voice echoed against the walls of dungeon as he held her.

What did you do to her?

What did you do to her?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews and follows on this fic! I don't have a set timeline for completing this fic as I focus on my other big story Untamed but I seriously appreciate the support. Writing Under is like paying homage to all my favorite horror writers so it's definitely been a project I enjoy!**

Chapter 2

"Luna," Neville said with a worried hush. He was standing over her curled body on their loft's rooftop terrace. When he awoke in the early hours of the morning to find Luna gone from their home he knew where to check first. The young man scooped up Luna's sleeping form, her frigid skin shivering in London's autumn air. Fear was etched into Neville's expression as he regarded the young woman. _It keeps happening,_ he thought to himself as he whisked her away.

As he descended the stairs back to the warmth of their home he couldn't help but notice how frail Luna became each passing day. _My bones are made of air, Neville. I am just a bird waiting to fly away,_ Luna had told him recently. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Luna whether she was just being her quirky self or if there was some deeper meaning to her words.

Neville was afraid. And worse yet he was afraid to admit to the fear burrowing in his heart. He was afraid of what was becoming of the woman he loved. Afraid of the damage the Death Eaters had done to her spirit and the toll it was taking on her.

Everyone was moving on but not Luna. Not his sweet gentle Luna. He knew the nightmares tormented her. Sometimes he came home to broken mirror and scorch marks on the walls. She said it was accidental magic but Neville was beginning to think it could be something worse.

As the first light of day filtered across the loft's wooden floors Neville laid Luna down on their bed, tucking her beneath the blankets and gently kissing her soft lips. He took out his wand and carefully cast a vitals check spell. It was a basic technique taught to all would-be Auror's as they were often the first on scene. A soft blue orb drifted around the sleeping witch before slowly fading away, confirming that she was going to be fine.

Neville would need to leave soon for his shift, the Auror-in-Training robes hanging in the closet were a reminder of the obligations he had ahead of him. But he didn't want to leave her alone and appearing so vulnerable. Her white blonde hair framed her face as she slept deeply. Even now she was exquisite to him.

Deep down even though he could see Luna's struggles more clearly, Neville knew they were all carrying baggage from the war. No one spoke of their personal struggles much but Neville saw it in his friends as much as his own bouts of panic. Sometimes he would walk down the street and feel as though someone was dogging his heels only to turn around and find no one there. They all had nightmares. It did not change the fact that he hated seeing Luna in distress but there was something to be said that she wasn't alone.

"We'll get through this," he whispered.

He kissed her once more and sent an owl off to Ginny before heading off to work. The message was brief but he knew the intent would be understood. _Check up on Luna when you can, she's been having a rough go of it._

It was no more than a hour or so after Neville left that Luna woke to the alarm of the Floo network being activated. She yawned, saw who was ringing in and slipped into a cotton kimono to greet her red-headed friend.

"Good morning Ginny," she said, oblivious to the mild concern on Ginny's face and clearly unphased by the young woman's early morning presence in her home. As of late the visit had almost become routine. "Would you like some tea? I have some scones. Just blueberry I am afraid, the market was out of dragonberry."

"Morning Luna, yeah I'll have some tea," Ginny said with a small relieved smile as Luna appeared by all accounts to be in her normal form. "Don't worry about the scones, I'm pretty sure dragonberry isn't a thing."

As they sat around and chatted the morning hours slowly drifted into the early afternoon. "We need to get you out of the house," Ginny announced as she glanced up at the clock. "The boys will be busy until late tonight with training so we ought to do something for ourselves."

"We could go feed the thestrals in Hyde park," Luna suggested

"We could do that," Ginny replied with the clear tone that they would _not_ be doing that. "But I was thinking more along the lines of a trip to Diagon Alley. I'll see if Hermione wants to come along. We can meet up around 5 in the central square and go from there."

"That would be delightful," Luna said. In truth it did not matter what she did, she enjoyed the company of her friends all the same. After an exchange of goodbye's Ginny departed and Luna was once more alone.

Only the witch was never really alone. She felt the weight of _its_ presencelike hands on her shoulders. Luna went to her bedroom, hoping to extract herself from the growing unease by getting ready for the day. She let her mind drift to the thought of spending the evening surrounded with friends and affirmed that it was exactly what she needed. Everyone seemed to think as much at least; Neville in particular constantly worried that she spent too much time alone. In reality Luna welcomed solitude. It gave her time to ponder and reflect on the world around her. And although she did not admit such, sometimes when she was surrounded by people was actually when she felt the most isolated.

But Luna knew Neville meant well. She knew he cared very deeply in fact and that's why he would tell Ginny or Harry to check up on her (to her credit, Luna in turn would pretend she didn't notice the check-in's or the masked concern of her friends).

Going to her dresser to fetch her clothes for the day Luna stole a glance at herself in the mirror.

Only it wasn't her reflection she saw.

At least not completely. The Luna in the mirror had a frightening smile, her lips contorting in a bizarrely unnatural expression. Her eyes were two pools of obsidian staring back at the bewildered witch.

"I want to play," the reflection said. Her voice wasn't like Luna's either, it was low and lethal like a rattlesnake's hiss.

Luna shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut as if she could make the apparition disappear. "You're not real."

"Is that so?" The image replied, raising a slender eyebrow.

Luna doubled over in agony, clutching her chest. It was as though Bellatrix's blade had plunged itself all over again. She gasped, suddenly looking down at the deep crimson of her own blood spilling across her hands as she fell to the ground.

 _No, no, no._

Luna blinked hard and when she opened her eyes the blood was gone and with it the wound itself. The apparition was no longer in the mirror now but standing over her body tauntingly. She giggled and the sound made Luna's stomach lurch. "I think I am real enough, little moon."

Luna hurled herself to her feet, grabbing her wand off the nearby nightstand. She cast a curse at her tormentor but the creature was already gone. The curse hit a nearby picture frame instead, obliterating the happy faces of Neville and herself into tiny pieces.

She stifled back the tears in her eyes as the real sensation of panic overwhelmed her: _What was she becoming?_

After the living nightmare she endured Luna quickly dressed and left for Diagon Alley early. She had made up her mind to seek out answers to the nature of her condition. Luna left a note on the kitchen table for Neville to let him know where she had gone but she anticipated she would still be back long before him. The Auror Academy had been taxing on him and she knew he didn't entirely enjoy the job even if he did not want to admit it. After the war Kingsley Shacklebolt, now Minister Shacklebolt, had granted Harry, Ron and Neville all placements in the academy. Ron and Harry had been eager for the challenge, Neville merely accepting of the honor with the humility that was his nature. She knew part of why he had taken the invitation was out of respect of his parents and their courage in the line of duty but also it was perhaps to prove something to himself. Even after his feats in the war, he still saw himself as somehow unworthy. Unworthy of what, she couldn't surmise.

 _When would he ever know that he is enough?_ Luna thought to herself as she apparated to the bustling Wizarding community of Diagon Alley. The loud buzz of life all around her drowned out the lingering apprehension that still clouded her mind. Her steps carried her through the crowds as she kept her head low, cloak hood drawn to mask her features. She did not want to be recognized for where she was going next.

Luna had never been to Nocturne Alley but instantly felt a surge of foreboding as she stepped down it's crooked streets. A small group of rough looking wizards eyed her with suspicion but she ignored their stares, her face a blank slate. Luna was surprised by the tremble in her hand as she reached for the black doors of a delipidated bookstore, only the dim light of its interior betrayed that the dusty building was still in business.

The small bell above the door rang as she entered.

"What brings you in little miss?" Asked an old man hunched on a stool by the cashier. His wheezed between each word, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose as he spoke.

"I couldn't say," she answered quietly as if unsure herself, her eyes fluttering to the many books that took up what felt like every square footage of the room. A part of her hoped she would not need to say the words aloud. She didn't want to give them weight. Give them significance. If she admitted to what she was searching for it might make her suspicions true.

And then what?

What would that make _her?_

"We don't sell books from the Hogwarts reading list," he wheezed.  
"I wouldn't think you would," she replied without looking away from the spines of the books. After a lengthy pause she considered his words and added. "I am not a student anyways."

"Well this isn't a library _nor_ a place for young witches," he said.

Luna ignored him and moved down the aisles until she disappeared behind a towering wall of haphazardly stacked books. She ran her hands along the glistening gold lettering of the book spines until her fingers paused over a particular title. Her intuition told her it was what she needed to read and Luna did not hesitate to pluck it from its perch on the shelf.

She opened it and flipped through the pages for several long moments before making the hasty decision to purchase it. When she reappeared at the front of the store, she placed it gingerly on the cashier's table. The store owner stared at her for a long moment, regarded the title of the book and looked back at her once more for another scrutinizing gaze. She wondered for a moment if he would deny her the purchase or ask her about her choice of literature.

"That will be 12 galleons, my discretion is included in the price," he replied to her unspoken question.

Luna did not blink as she handed over the money, taking the book and leaving the store before he could even offer her the change. She was breathing hard to compensate for her suddenly racing heart. The witch did not even look where she was going as she bolted from the store, colliding with a passerby with enough force to knock her new purchase from her clammy hands.

Luna reached down and quickly scooped up the book.

"Watch it," the wizard snapped.

Luna's vision darted to meet a pair of sharp black eyes glaring back at her. A flash of recognition crossed his face. It took Luna a moment longer but she too recognized the wizard. She could never forget the face of the Death Eater who had taken her prisoner during the war.

" _You,_ " Rabastan Lestrange said with a low voice. Luna took several steps backward reaching for the wand she kept in her left pocket.

His eyes went first to the wand in her hand and then to the book tucked to her chest with her other arm. A small dangerous smile tugged at his lips, " _Possessions of the Living: A Beginner's Guide?_ That is an interesting choice for light reading even for you Miss Lovegood."

"Don't step any closer," she warned.

"Come now that's not polite, I actually enjoyed our conversations together."

Nearby wizards and witches turned towards the pair. Despite the fact that Luna's wand was pointed directly at him, Rabastan did not seem even remotely bothered. It was still hard for Luna to process that a notorious Death Eater could be walking casually in the streets even if it was Nocturne Alley and yet here he was.

"Careful there," he said and nodded to the group of wizards that she had passed by earlier, at the gesture they advanced towards. "You are in my world and we don't really play nice."

Luna could see from her peripheral that there were at least four of them. She tightened her grip on her wand, trying to decide who she would need to strike first.

"I'll tell you what for old time's sake why don't I just let you run along," Rabastan suggested. He took one last look at the book in her arm and moved aside to offer her a path away. Luna knew it could be a trap, knew it likely was a trap, but she didn't hesitate. She charged forward past him at blinding speed. But even as her shoulder brushed him in her escape Luna heard him say with taunting voice, "Don't worry, your little secret is safe with me."

Luna did not stop running.

She ran and ran until her legs burned and her lunges begged for air.

She didn't stop until she collapsed on a bench in the Muggle side of London. The air was colder with the threat of rain looming in the dark clouds above her. She sat there for an hour and didn't even notice as the first drop hit her forehead. And then the next.

As the storm descended, Luna welcomed the drumming of the rain to muffle the turmoil in her mind.


End file.
